Origins

by Tyson, Neil DeGrasse

• ISBN13: 9780393059922
• ISBN10: 0393059928
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-28
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Summary

Basis of the PBS Nova series: an illuminating excursion into the beginnings of the universefrom the big bang to the birth of life itself. Origins explores cosmic science's stunning new insights into the formation and evolution of our universeof the cosmos, of galaxies and galaxy clusters, of stars within galaxies, of planets that orbit those stars, and of different forms of life that take us back to the first three seconds and forward through three billion years of life on Earth to today's search for life on other planets. Drawing on the current cross-pollination of geology, biology, and astrophysics, Origins explains the thrilling daily breakthroughs in our knowledge of the universe from dark energy to life on Mars to the mysteries of space and time. Distilling complex science in clear and lively prose, co-authors Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith conduct a galvanizing tour of the cosmos revealing what the universe has been up to while turning part of itself into us. 32 pages of color illustrations.

Author Biography

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 11
Preface: A Meditation on the Origins of Science and the Science of Origins	p. 15
Overture: The Greatest Story Ever Told	p. 25
The Origin of the Universe
In the Beginning	p. 33
Antimatter Matters	p. 46
Let There Be Light	p. 53
Let There Be Dark	p. 64
Let There Be More Dark	p. 78
One Universe or Many?	p. 98
The Origin of Galaxies and Cosmic Structure
Discovering Galaxies	p. 111
The Origin of Structure	p. 122
The Origin of Stars
Dust to Dust	p. 147
The Elemental Zoo	p. 167
The Origin of Planets
When Worlds Were Young	p. 183
Between the Planets	p. 194
Worlds Unnumbered: Planets Beyond the Solar System	p. 204
The Origin of Life
Life in the Universe	p. 225
The Origin of Life on Earth	p. 233
Searching for Life in the Solar System	p. 250
Searching for Life in the Milky Way Galaxy	p. 274
Coda: The Search for Ourselves in the Cosmos	p. 291
Glossary of Selected Terms	p. 297
Further Reading	p. 323
Image Credits	p. 327
Index	p. 329
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